Living with Loneliness
by Lily svit-kona
Summary: Knowing nothing of the Ancient language, how was Nikhole supposed to know that Argetlam was someone she was familiar with? How was Ergaon supposed to know a childhood friend would show up on his door step with a quest centered around him? Rated Safely
1. Prologue

AUTHORS NOTE: This will not be like every other story out there where my main character becomes tragically smitten with Eragon, and he with her, and they fall madly in love. He is VERY much in love with Arya, and if there is to be any love in the story, it shall be between the two of them. But I do have plot lines laid out in the future.

The maiden clutched the precious stone close to her chest as she ran through the woods. Her copper tresses ripping madly through the air. "Earth grant me strength."She said, solemnly. She had to find him and get the stone to him. The precious green stone(which she hadn't allow to touch her skin, for fear of destroying it.). Or else it could all very well be lost. A strange looking man handed it to her this morning and said for her to gaurd with her life, and find Argetlam. He also said that Argetlam lived in the northernmost forest. She had heard too many rumors of this Argetlam running south, to Surda, to aid the Varden in their fight against the Empire. The Empire's troups were down there, so she decided to check it out. She had just come from Furnost a week ago. Her father had run to Surda, and that was why she had been going in the first place. She was in the wood Tiidosten. But until this morning she'd had a horse, and several men proctecting her, her mother had been a woman of the court, and her true father a peasant. Her mother had been remarried, and the man she was married to was supposed to be the girls father. But he wasn't, and she was running off to find her real father. She had donned the clothe of a peasant, for that was her legacy.

She grew weary and tired as the night grew longer. The moon rose, and the stars came up with it. She had to find a safe place to sleep. She was so weary. She was almost to Petrovya. In a week of walking, and boating, she would be there. Three days if she could get a horse. But she doubted anytime soon there would be a horse prance by with no owner. She had to get to Petrovya, from there she could get what she needed on the few coins she had. She fell down, to her knees, her blood red locks falling in her face, sheilding her blue eyes from the sight of anything. She fell the rest of the way down to the ground, allowing her self to slumber for a while, at least. Any longer without rest and she would have keeled over in exhaustion. With the morning light she awoke, and found her self within seeing distance of the river, her arms bound together. Her hair was pulled away from her face.

"Where am I?"She asked herself. A strange man looked at her and shook his head. He had black hair and brown eyes, and pale skin.

"In the woods, near the ford to Pertrovya."He answered.

"How did I get here?"She asked.

"I found you. And that stone."

"I have to have that stone back, sir. Please. This is of the utmost importance. I was commisioned by someone almost as high in standings as the King, to deleiver that stone into Surda."She pleaded to him. He walked over to her and cut her loose, he handed her a velvet bag, the stone was within it.

"Take that, if you fail to deliever it. I'll behead you, once I find you. I had you tied up to keep you from thrashing about. You caused me problems when I picked up."He said walking off. She smiled and sighed in relief as she clutched the bag to her chest.

"Thank God he didn't harm it."She said as she began trudging on towards the ford. Beautiful forestry passed her by as she walked. Her clothes were tattered, and her hair was a mess, branches caught in it everywhich way. Her skin was oily from not being washed. Dirt clung to her skin, and clothes, and in her hair. But none the less she looked beautiful. When she finally approached the ford she walked to the dock only to find a woman tending it. An elderly woman at that.

"Excuse me ma'am. But I need to cross, and I have no coin. I've come on foot from Furnost. And I have to get to Surda."She said, crying for help. "You must help me."

The woman turned to her and smiled a crooked smile. "You can't expect to pass through the ford with no payment."

"All I have are the clothes on my back, and a wooden flute."She said, which was a lie seeing as she did have coins. The old woman thougt a moment.

"Give me that flute and your cloak and I'll take you across."The woman answered finally. The crimson tressed miss unpinned her cloak and gave it and the flute to her. She was sorrowful over seeing the cloak being passed to the old woman, but of course, she knew she had to. Her only mission, if it killed her, was finding Argetlam and delivering this stone to him.

"Thank you so much for this."She said as the old woman took her across. When she reached Petrovya, she ran into the city, and held the bag close to her. She went to the local store, and pulled out the few coins she had, buying one bread loave, a block of cheese, a water skin, and a pack to put it in. She thanked the shop keeper and left before much else was said. She found a quiet place at the edge of town to eat a little bread, and cheese. She counted the coins she had left. 6 silver peices. That wouldn't be enough to do anything with. She sighed, and put everything away within her pack. She had asked about the rumors of the battle, and were the Varden where. The people she had asked said they were in Aberon, the capital. That would take a month on foot! She was doomed. She decided she had to get up and start walking again. The food she had would only last two weeks. She would have to stretch it, and stretch herself. She stood up and walked southward. If she keep walking in a straight line she wouldn't get lost nor would she pass another town, or anything of the sort until she got to Aberon. And that sight would be her savior. She hummed gently to herself as she walked. Soon the hours melted by, and she thought of home. Though hse was no longer entirely sure wher home was anymore. She couldn't decide whether to make no place her home, and have no ties to anyone place, or to remember Uru 'Baen, and its treachory as home. By night fall she was worn out, and her feet hurt. She was sure she had covered at least 40 miles already. But she had to keep pressing on. A little bit farther she told her self. And by the time the phrase ented her mind for the 20th time. She was falling forward, sleeping.

So was the patern of her days. And every two days she would eat some bread. Seeing as she passed streams, she filled her water skin everychance she recieved. Before long those long minutes, turned into short days, and they turned into short weeks, which lead to a month. With Aberon not in sight, she traveled slower, causing her self to arrive after she had planned. By this time her food had already run out, and she was two days without water. The heat was driving her mad as well. She didn't know where she was, the scenery was contsant, never changing. She hadn't thought, or spoken in five days. A few more steps, a few more steps, a few more steps. She had been walking nonstop, when she wasn't sleeping, she was walking. Her feet had dried blood upon them from the constant walking. She had lost her shoes at least a week ago. The night was soon aproaching and she was still weary. She had hardly slept since her food ran out. It seemed than when she closed her eyes death would call her to darkness. It seemed it's hold was getting stronger on her. She tried to shake its hold on, she tried, but her strength was wanning. If she didn't reach the capital soon, she was sure to die. Her hair was a tangled mess, decorated with dirt, twigs, and nots. Her face was no longer the jewel it was at the begning of her journey, dirt and blood covered her cheeks, and her lips were cracked, scabbed by the dessert winds.

By the late night Aberon was in her veiw, the sight brought joy to her. If she was able to feel still. She did the best she could to run to the largest building she could. She saw gaurds, and by that time she was sure is was a dellusion. She walked to the door and started to open it, when she collapsed, in fear, in hunger, in thirst, in weakness, in tiredness. She was able to mutter one word. "Argetlam." The gaurds picked her up and brought her to the king. King Orin. The nocked on his chamber door, and he opened.

"What is your purpose here?"Orin asked. The first gaurd looked up at him.

"This girl collapsed aproaching the front door, and she muttered one word, Argetlam."He answered. Orin looked at her a moment. Then he looked at the bag she clutched close to her chest.

"Take her to one of the servants quarters and lock her in there. Go to him and find out if he knows why this maid has come to find him. And if she awakes first, ask her where she came from."Orin replied. The gaurds nodded and did as they were told. They took the girl to the floor below, and put her into one of the empty servants quarters. The gaurds went to the quarters of "Argetlam".

"Shadeslayer, a girl has come to see you."A gaurd said. The brown haired, angular brown eyed, pointy eared, 16 year old stood up. He was garbed in a saphire blue tunic, with black breeches on, and a gold belt around his waist.

"Why is she here?"He asked.

"We were hoping you knew."

"I don't know any girls outside the Varden, and my old village."

"Would you like to see here?"

"Very much so."He replied to the gaurd. The gaurds lead him downstairs, and to the quarters of the girl. She was up, and had bathed, and brushed her hair. She was wrapped in a sheet from the bed. Her copper tresses cascaded down her back down to her mid thigh. She turned around when she heard someone enter the room. She looked at the three men, instantly recognizing one.

"Eragon..."She said in soft awe.

"Nikhole"


	2. Conundrum

As Eragon looked over the tattered mess that was Nikhole, he smiled, and offered her his hand. He was glad to see a truly familiar face again. With Arya's rejection looming over his head, he was fast to welcome another lady into his life. Though, he did push the thoughts of what lay beneath the sheet that covered Nikhole from his mind, and far from Saphira's. He honestly thought his dragon needed no more reason to torment him with the thoughts of a teenaged male coming to terms with the sensuality around him in every thing. Now, did he? But as he looked at his dear friend, he couldn't help but notice that something was different about her. Other than the fact that she had grown older, and was road weary. He'd been told that she'd spent the entire journey on foot, and Angela herself had tended to Nikhole's wounds. He was thankful for that, Angela would be repaid kindly later on.

"Nikhole...what...wh--...How did you know I was here?" Eragon asked, as he looked at her, examining the marring that travel had left on her. It was a horrid thing to see one that you had been close to long ago troubled. And he would not delve into her mind, as he knew he easily could.

"I had no idea you would be here." She said after a long pause, speach seemed to be difficult for her at the moment. And he didn't blame her a bit. She must still be recovering from her journey. But he needed another answer from her.

"What brought you here, to Surda? The last I knew, you were traveling home with the merchants, and going to find your mother again." This time, Nikhole's response came quite fluidly, and easily.

"I am a woman on a mission. I wasn't going to let anything stop me. Even my own death." She told him, quitely. It was at that point that Eragon dismissed everyone from the room.

"A mission? Of what sorts?" This question brought a bewildered look to Nikole's face, as if she had lost something very important to herself, and to everyone around her. And Eragon knew not, but she had. Nikhole had lost the stone she'd been intrusted to protect.

"Oh by the false king." She muttered under her breath. She looked around, and it seemed she could not find what she was missing.

"The stars are not shining on me today. Eragon, have you seen a large velvet bag? Or a large green stone with fimly veins running through it. It was..._is_ very important, and I need find it quickly." Nikhole said, much more at ease to speak with the guards and people gone. Eragon was instantly reminded of when he found Saphira's egg in the spine, and how it had looked. But, for all he knew the last egg still remained with the false king, with the egg breaker, with the oathe breaker. He practically spit on the name.

"No one went through your possesions. It should be on the book case, over there." And with those words, Eragon pointed over to a book case on the wall. Nikhole, awkwardly aware of Eragon's eyes on her, clutched the sheet she was using as shift, and made her way to the case he had pointed at. It was there that she found the sould posession she cared about. The stone lying in the bag. She took the bag over to her previous seat, and showed it to Eragon.

"Open it, I've been afraid to touch the stone it's self." Said Nikhole, as she offered the bag to him. Eragon, cautiously, took the bag from her, on his guard for the contents could be anything. As he looked with in, his eyes went wide, and his face pale.

"Where did you get this?" He asked, eagerly, and almost accusingly, causing Nikhole to shrink back.

"Je...a man I knew and respected in Teirm gave it to me, and told me to go to Surda, and find the one that they call Argetlam. I've been traveling nonstop since then. And I was eager to escape the Empire, and our false king's reign." Nikhole answered, as she looked down. Eragon looked back at her, and raised an eye-brow. He knew all about this...stone, as she called it. That much was evident to anyone in the room. But alas, it was only the two of them, and Nikhole would not challenge him for answers in her current state.

"You called this a stone?" His voice was softer, more soothing this time. And the change was well met.

"Yes, isn't that what it is?" She asked, feeling slightly stupid. Obviously it wasn't a stone, if he was asking her if that was what she had called it. Eragon smiled at her, and then simply stood up.

"Yes, and no. It is...alive. You've heard the legend of the Riders, haven't you?" Nikhole nodded, and sense relief in Eragon. "Good, that will save me hours of time of explanation. That…stone, as you say it is, is actually a Dragon's egg. The last egg we know of in existence."

"The last egg in existence? And _I_ was responsible for it?" Nikhole questioned, utterly bewildered by the recent turn of events. The responsibility she had, the events she had just molded with so much as just the journey she had just made. The utter weight of it all had just crashed down upon her. Eragon seemed to sense the change in her, and gave her a smile. A smile that made her aware of how different this Eragon was to the Eragon she knew from her childhood. He looked more elf than human, and dressed in finery fit to rival that of a king. While she, the daughter of a noble, found her self clad in only a bed linen.

"Do you know where I could get some clothing? I don't have anything to trade wi-" She was cut off in mid-sentence by Eragon.

"As my guest, you will not pay for anything. I will make Nasuda aware of this. You will be given a room near me. Since I fear that there is much I must tell you." Eragon smiled to her, and paused for a moment before looking towards Nikhole once more. "Clothing for you is on it's way."

This confused Nikhole beyond all of her reason. How had he sent for clothes? He hadn't moved…The conundrum made it nigh impossible for her to sit still.

"And as far as this 'Argetlam' person you seek, he, that is I, am before you. Argetlam means 'shining palm' in the language of Elves, more commonly known as the Ancient Language." Eragon explained. Again his explanation was met with confusion. He smiled to Nikhole, and stood up. There was a knock on the door, and a handmaid with clothes, and boots was in the doorway.

"Take these and dress, I'll find you are supper. You may roam as you will until then." Said Eragon as he passed the bundle to Nikhole, and left her with that. With his disappearance, she felt a huge flood of emotion wash over her. Why had she been trusted with the egg of the last dragon? What would have happened if she had lost the egg? Or worse, if she had broken it? All these despairing thoughts and more ran through her head as she dressed in clothes that Eragon had given to her.

After she dressed, Nikhole sighed and looked around her temporary quarters. What was she supposed to do until Eragon came to fetch her at mealtime? The most shocking part of the day had not been that she had been the courier to the last egg in existence, but that Argetlam was her childhood friend, Eragon. That, in and of it's self, was enough to confuse her for a lifetime. How had a farmer's child like Eragon metamorphosized into a fair folk look alike wearing finery that rivaled a king's? Everything else, everything concerning her position, could wait. She needed to figure this out.

And so she pondered this…this riddle for some long while. Time slipped by with no meaning to her as she paced the length of the room numerous times. She sat. She wandered about the room, and she was dazed. And finally, when she thought she could come up with no more solutions than hair brained, impossible schemes, she opened the door, and went into the hall way. With two steps she almost ran straight into Eragon.

"Excuse me, I should have been watching where I was going." Nikhole apologized; out of embarrassment she smiled at him, and hoped he would accept her apology.

"Ney, excuse me, I should have been more careful myself. I was just coming to fetch you for supper. Do you wish to accompany me to our feast?" Eragon inquired, Nikhole smiled and nodded in acceptance. "The clothes fit you will." And with that, the two of them left towards the feasting hall.

**Author's note: **Pitiful chapter, I do know this! But, I promise the next one will be better! Especially if you guys will review it for me! R & R! And, shameless advertising is great too!


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